The Occasion
by CeliaLauna
Summary: Ryan is spending New Years Eve with Chad at the Danforth-Foster household. Some fluff to ring in the New Year! Part 4 of the "Let's Call It Family" series, but can be read separately.


**Summary:** Ryan is spending New Years Eve with Chad at the Danforth-Foster household. Some fluff to ring in the New Year! Part of the "Let's Call It Family" series, but could be read separately.

 **A/N:** Some fluff to ring in the New Year! The Moms and the twins are from The Fosters, Jaime is an OFC. Part of the "Let's Call It Family" series but could be read separately. Just know that the Danforth-Foster household exists of Chad's Mom, Lena, step-Mom Stef (short for Stefanie), his step-sister, Jaime, and the kid adopted twins, Jesus and Mariana.

 **Disclaimer:** Nothing is mine.

* * *

The living room looked amazingly festive. Though they didn't have snow in Albuquerque, the windows were painted with fake spray bottle snow, and snowmen and reindeer figurines were covering the glass doors inside. The tree had dozens and dozens of white fairy lights, which pulled away the focus of the eclectic miss-match of ornaments, some of which had to have been self-made. Though Christmas had passed already, there were still a few presents underneath the tree, and the tv, though muted, was showing a holiday special of some show where everyone was dressed as elves.

Ryan was nervous and the amazingly cozy living room at the Danforth-Foster household was only making it worse.

He was sitting in the living room with the twins, who were looking at the television, fighting to stay awake. Jaime was helping her Moms in the kitchen while Chad was cleaning the gameboard and setting for dessert.

Ryan had spent Christmas eve with his family, and on Christmas day he and Sharpay had been forced to do the family-business thing at Lava Springs (which Sharpay loved, but he hated) so he hadn't been able to spend the holidays with his boyfriend. Normally his family goes to New York City for New Years, spend the night at some fancy party, watched the ball drop through the windows which had a view of Times Square, and then spend the remaining days of Winter break shopping and going to see musicals. But Chad had been so bummed that they couldn't spend Christmas Eve nor Christmas day together, that when he had suggested spending New Years Eve together, Ryan couldn't say no. His parents had understood, thankfully, though he was afraid his sister would still be giving him the silent treatment on the second of January when he flew to New York to join his family.

All that were future worries, though. Right now he was sitting on the couch at his boyfriend's place. The seven of them had gone out for dinner, which Ryan had enjoyed, and they had all decided to come back for the countdown. Mariana and Jesus didn't have a choice, though they were allowed to stay up late. Jaime and Chad were allowed to join their friends, but both had decided against it. The party that most of their friends would go to seemed to have been blown out of proportion, and neither of them felt like going to a house where the police could show up, especially when Stef would be warned by one of her colleagues. So they had decided to stay home, and had played some board games. It had been fun.

It was half an hour till midnight and Ryan was starting to get more and more nervous. He really wanted to kiss Chad at midnight, but Ryan felt a bit awkward doing so in front of his Mom and Stef. A kiss on the cheek had been as explicit as they had gone in front of family, and since he was allowed to spend the night in Chad's room – though on a separate fold-away bed – he didn't want to push his luck. At the same time, he also really wanted to kiss his boyfriend at midnight, so he wasn't sure what to do.

"Champagne?" Jaime's voice pulled Ryan out of his thoughts.

"What?"

Chad's step-sister smiled and shook the empty flute in her hand. "Do you want champagne? Chad and I are allowed one glass at midnight, and Stef said that you could have some too, if you want to. And if your parents would allow it, I guess," Jaime added as an afterthought. "But considering Chad threw a fuss at the grocery store yesterday to get the brand you had mentioned you liked from the Lava Spring Christmas party, I'm assuming that won't be the issue."

Ryan smiled, and, ignoring Chad's remark how he did _not_ throw a fuss, he nodded and thanked Jaime. Jaime smiled back and added his glass to the table. Ryan joined Chad at the table, distributing the cutlery.

"Hey," Chad said, bumping his hip against Ryan's. "You having fun?"

"I really am, actually," Ryan responded. It was ridiculous and ridiculously sappy how Chad's voice could calm him down. Left alone with his mind he got nervous, but Chad and his entire family made sure he felt at ease at all times.

"I'm sorry, I know this isn't some fancy party at New York City, or even the party with people our age, but –"

"Chad, it's fine," Ryan interrupted. "If Sasha told Jaime to stay away because she is already bailing because of the likelihood of the cops being called, it's not like we really would enjoy ourselves." Chad nodded, and Ryan continued. "Besides, I like your family. This is nice."

Chad smiled. "I'm glad you think so." He finished placing the plates and the napkins, and turned to Ryan, one hand on his shoulder. "I know it's a big miss-match of a family, but it's home."

Ryan smiled. "I know. I like them. And I like you."

"I like you, too," Chad said as he pulled Ryan closer, foreheads pressed together. "I really do. I…"

"Chad!" Lena's voice interrupted the moment as she walked in with the pie. "You can make out with your boyfriend at midnight. Go help Jaime with the ice cream."

Bashfully, Chad let his head hang against Ryan's shoulder which made Ryan laugh. He patted his shoulder as Chad straightened up and walked into the kitchen, grumbling how his family is always interrupting his moments.

Ryan shook his head, smiling, and looked at Lena. "Anything I can help with?" he asked.

Lena shook her head. "Thanks, dear, but we're almost done here. Maybe check if the twins are up or not?"

Ryan looked at the couch were the twins were sitting earlier. They were in the couch, Jesus with his mouth open snoring, and Mariana curled up into a little ball. Ryan took the blanked off of the back of the couch and tucked them in. When he walked back to the dinner table, he confirmed what Lena must have been suspecting. "Dead to the world," he informed her.

"As expected," Stef and Lena said in unison while Stef walked into the living room with three bowls, followed by Chad and Jaime with more bowls with ice cream in. They placed them on the table and they all sat down, eating ice cream with apple pie, talking some more.

A few minutes before midnight, the moms started waking up the twins while the older siblings and Ryan were clearing off the table. The sound of the tv was turned up again. When the teenagers could hear the countdown at half a minute begin, they ran into the living room and joined, yelling the seconds that ticked by.

"Three! Two! One! Happy New Year!"

Ryan smiled as Chad threw his arms over his shoulder, pulling him closer. They met halfway with parted lips and Ryan could feel the happiness running through his body. As they pulled back for some air, Chad immediately pulled him back in for a hug. Ryan rested his hands on his boyfriends hips, his chin hooked over his shoulder. He could see that Lena and Stef were still sharing kisses and whispered words, and that the twins were playing with the hats and the small bags of confetti they had gotten. Jaime – who earlier that night had complained about being single – had popped the champagne and was filling up the glasses.

"Jaime, one glass means one champagne flute," he could hear Lena say. "Not one of those oversized novelty coffee mugs!"

Chad and Ryan had to hold back their laughter as Stef turned around and started lecturing her daughter, who was grinning over her giant mug.

Chad quickly pressed a kiss to Ryan's cheek before pressing his forehead against his boyfriends, pressing soft kisses to his lips.

"You know," Chad whispered. "I'm really glad you're here."

"Me too," Ryan replied, closing his eyes and letting the happiness wash over him. "I really like your family," he repeated.

"I'm glad," Chad replied, also repeating his earlier words. "Because with you here, I got to start the new year with the people I love the most."

Ryan nodded before the words were repeating themselves in his head. He pulled back. "Love?" he asked. They hadn't used those words before. 'Like' and 'in love', sure, but being 'in love' with someone held a different position compared to the single worded 'love', especially for people their age.

"Yeah," Chad said, looking at Ryan through his eyelashes. "I love you, Ryan Evans."

And before Ryan could respond, Chad was kissing him again. Ryan pulled him closer, his arms tightening around his boyfriends waist, and Chad ran a hand through his hair – his hat had fallen of during the first kiss after the countdown – and Ryan knew that staying in Albuquerque with his boyfriend had been the right decision. He definitely was starting the New Year in a good way.


End file.
